Author issues call to fight climate change

By Bill Poteat bpoteat@gastongazette.com

Wednesday

May 1, 2019 at 7:06 PMMay 1, 2019 at 7:06 PM

South Carolina novelist Mary Alice Monroe shared how she develops ideas for her novels at the 13th Annual Gaston Literacy Council Meet the Author Luncheon, but she also issued a ringing challenge for action on climate change.

"Wake up and be active," Monroe said to a group of about 300 at the Gaston Country Club on Wednesday. "Don't be apathetic. Fight fear with facts. Be smart. Be optimistic. Do what you can do. Action will fight fear and anxiety."

Monroe, whose next novel, to be released in June, will focus on the trauma of a hurricane-forced evacuation, said it is incumbent upon parents and grandparents to take action now to ensure survival for their children and grandchildren.

"I'm trying to be the canary in the coal mine," said Monroe. "We have enjoyed this beautiful planet upon which we were born. We have to fight to make sure our children can enjoy it also."

The best-selling novelist noted that libraries and literacy councils must take the lead in providing information about climate change so that readers can access the facts and use that information to push for change.

Monroe's concerns over climate change spring naturally from her writing which examine the lessons to be learned and the parallels to be drawn between species such as turtles and butterflies and humans.

The inspiration for her first novel, the best-selling "Beach House," stemmed from her experience working to protect sea turtles and their nesting places on the Isle of Palms outside Charleston, S.C.

She described in vivid detail the first night in which she saw a turtle come ashore to lay her eggs.

"The high tide was receding, the beach was unscarred, and a beautiful full moon was glistening over the water," she recalled. "And here comes this giant turtle lumbering out of the water and onto the sand. I knew then that I had my novel."

"My goal as a writer is to bring you into the world I was experiencing," she said. "A book should bring you to feel the same emotions I was experiencing."

"The Beach House," published in 2002, "simply exploded," Monroe recalled, "through old school methods, readers telling other readers, 'you have to read this book.'"

Since then, Monroe has published nearly two dozen novels with her latest, "The Summer Guests," to be published in June.

Much of that novel is set in the Tryon area, prime horse country, where Monroe recently purchased a second home.

Lisa Jurs, board chair of the Gaston Literacy Council, told the group that even though much has been accomplished, much remains to be done as more than 20 percent of Gaston County's population remains functionally illiterate.

"We really do change lives," she said of the council's work. "We have a talented and dedicated staff and we have nearly 50 volunteer tutors. All of them provide exceptional service and leadership to our county."